Her Rise To Power
by SiriuslylvnSirius25
Summary: What no one knew was that Voldemort had a daughter. Now eleven years after his downfall she starts to come to power. Living in the shadows she begins to recruit those who were loyal to her father. It’s now up to one girl to stop her.
1. The Beginning

**1 The Beginning**

"Marie! James!" Ginny called for the two twins from the kitchen. It was their eleventh birthday today (August 16th) and Harry and Ginny had decided to bring them and a few of their close friends to a muggle amusement park. To say the least they were all excited even Harry and Ginny as they themselves haven't ever been to one before.

They planned to have everyone meet at their house at nine as the park opens at ten and it takes a half hour to get there. They planned on taking about a half hour to get everyone settled and into the cars.

Marie and James came bounding down the stairs two at a time. It was now eight thirty and they wanted to eat breakfast before everyone came. They entered the kitchen to the smell of bacon, eggs, and toast ready for them on the table accompanied by a glass of pumpkin juice.

Harry was already sitting at the table with his food reading a copy of the day's Daily Prophet with a large grin on his face.

"I'm guessing by the look on your face that you approve of the new Minister of Magic?" Ginny said looking at her husband.

"_Mistress_ of Magic." Harry corrected her. "And you'll never guess who it is."

"Who?" Ginny asked excitedly.

"Shaina," Harry answered.

"Lupin? No way! I didn't even know she was in the running for it and she's one of my best friends."

"One of our best friends," Harry said jokingly, "and I didn't know either."

"I guess that she didn't want us to know in case she didn't get it."

"Probably."

"Auntie Shaina is the new Mistress of Magic!" Marie exclaimed.

"Yes, she is."

"Awesome!" James said with a mischievous look in his eyes.

"Now James just because your aunt is the Mistress of Magic doesn't mean you'll get special privileges." Ginny told her son.

"Now your mothers right James, but you will get a special present as it is your birthday. You too Marie." Shaina said as she and Remus entered the kitchen.

"Auntie!" Marie and James yelled together and ran to give her a hug.

"Oh and what am? Dragon dung?" Remus joked.

The two turned to their uncle and gave him a hug also.

"Shai, why didn't you tell us that you were in the running for Mistress of Magic?" Ginny asked her good friend.

"Because I didn't have much hope of getting it and I didn't want pity if I didn't."

"Well that goes to show you that you're wrong pretty often." Remus said half-kidding. Shaina in turn lightly pushed her husband of fifteen years.

"Anyway, CONGRADULATIONS!" Harry and Ginny exclaimed.

"Ha…thanks." Shaina said blushing. As the adults started talking about Shaina and her new job position, Hayden walked in from the living room.

"Hey Hayden!" Marie and James greeted the twelve-year-old Lupin boy.

"Hey you guys." He answered back. "Are you excited to go to Hogwarts this year?"

"Yes, we got our letters two weeks ago!" Marie answered excitedly.

"Congrats! I hope you guys get into Gryffindor with Katie, Jen, and me." Hayden said.

Katie was the daughter of Bill and Fleur Weasley and Jen was the Potter's neighbors' daughter. She was a half-blood. Her mother was a muggleborn and her father was a pureblood. Rachel and Draco Malfoy.

When it came down to the last battle between Voldemort and the Order (including the trio and Ginny) Draco turned. He chose the pathway of the good. He had shown he true colors. Harry and him had teamed up and brought down Voldemort side by side. Draco got rid of any death eater coming their way while Harry faced Voldemort. Ever since the Malfoys have been close family friends.

"Us too, but why wouldn't we? I mean both our parents generations have all been in Gryffindor for who knows how long." James said.

"You have a point, but there's a good chance that you could be in Ravenclaw. I mean your both pretty smart."

"Ugh I don't want to be put there with all their smart arse people. But it's better than Slytherin or Hufflepuff. Hell I'd rather be in Hufflepuff if it'd save me being in Slytherin."

"I wouldn't mind being in Ravenclaw, they don't sound that bad. But I agree with you on the Hufflepuff and Slytherin deal. Just thinking about being put in Slytherin makes me shiver." Marie shuddered.

"Ha…trust me you two won't be put in Slytherin. But you two are lucky that your dad's not the Headmaster."

"Yeah, but he is our uncle." James said.

"True."

Five minutes later the Weasley's entered the kitchen. Among them Hermione, Ron, their daughter Ashley and son Jon, Fred, his wife Angelina, their son Devlin, George, his wife Alicia, Bill, Fleur, and their daughter Katie.

"So Sarah, Helen, and Kevin are all staying with Massie because she didn't want to go and they can't ride most of the rides, right?" Angelina asked.

Sarah is the Potters nine-year-old, Helen is Fred and Angelina's nine-year-old, and Kevin is Alicia and George's nine-year-old. Massie is an old family friend who went to school with Remus, Shaina, and the rest of the old group (_Massie and Shaina are OC's in my Lily and James story)_.

"Yep." Ginny answered. "And the Malfoys should be here any minute they just had to finish getting ready."

"We're here." Draco said as he, Rachel, Jen, and their ten-year-old Shara entered.

"Great, so is everyone ready? Its nine fifteen." Harry asked.

"Okay well I got us all ministry cars. I got five, that should be enough," Shaina said.

"Okay so lets have Harry, Ginny, Marie, and James in one car. Ron, me, Ashley, Devlin, and Jon in another. Another one can have Rachel, Draco, Jen, and Shara. Um…Remus, Shaina, Hayden, Alicia, and George in the fourth one. And in the last car we can have Angelina, Fred, Bill, Fleur, and Katie." Hermione said. "Is that alright with everyone?"

"Yep." They all replied.

"Well I think its safe to say that Harry, Rachel, and I will be handling all the money affairs as we all have experience with muggle money." Hermione said.

"Agreed." The rest replied.

"Okay kids into the designated cars." Remus instructed them.

* * *

"Cortez! How many have we got?" a forceful women's voice asked the 32-year-old Rafael Cortez.

"We've got my wife Pansy, Brandon and Gabriella Nott, Roger and Tara Davies, um…Bellatrix and Rudolphus Lestrange, Cole and Jenna Faison, and Sadie and Garrett Faison, Mistress."

"That's all? What of all of my father's old followers? Where are they?" The voice of before asked fiercely.

"More than half are either dead or in Azkaban."

"Well get the ones that aren't…NOW!"

"Yes Mistress." With that Cortez left to get more people for his Mistress.

The Mistress sat in a warm fire lit room on a dark green couch. She sat staring into the flames. "Father I've done as you've told me. What else is there to do but wait until I can get more allies and power on my side?"

"You are to do as I tell you," a high-pitched eerie sounding voice said all around her. "I cannot do anything, only guide you through the beginning stages."

"You have taught me well while you were alive. What will you have me do now?"

"You must go to the Trayjing Crevasse in the Himalayan Mountains. There is knowledge there that can bring great power to you. I learned of this crevasse too late into my reign. Just a week before_ Harry Potter_ became my downfall. You must retrieve that information before you can become known. Only with that information can you dream to achieve what I was so close to getting."

"Yes father. I will get that information if it's the last thing I do."

"To find the knowledge you must figure out what the scroll I left you half finished means. You must first finish translating the scroll, then go on your mission."

"Yes father."

"Goodbye for now daughter."

"Bye father."

The voice that surrounded the room now disappeared leaving an unsettling silence behind.

"I will finish translating that scroll and retrieve that information." The woman muttered to herself.

* * *

Half an hour after leaving the Potter's the five cars arrived at their destination. As the kids jumped out of the cars their jaws dropped having never seen or been to a muggle amusement park before. Even the parents' jaws dropped save Hermione, Harry, and Rachel as Hermione and Rachel are muggleborn and Harry was raised by muggles.

"Look at the size of that thing!" Shara exclaimed pointing towards the Ferris wheel. The rest gaped at it as Harry, Hermione, and Rachel smiled at the kids and parents excitement.

"Now kids…and parents remember we're muggles while here. No word of anything magic, no mention of Hogwarts, no wands, and NO dungbombs." Rachel told them.

"Aww." Jon, James, Devlin, Katie, Jen, and Hayden all said.

"Yeah because I don't want to have to deal with the magic reversal squad having to erase the memories of hundreds of muggles." Shaina said.

"And if you do you will never come back here again. There will be no Quidditch matches for the rest of the year and I'll make sure all of you going to Hogwarts this year start off with a months worth of detention and those not would be grounded for the month." Ginny said.

"Okay we won't." They all replied quickly with innocent smiles planted on their faces.

They all headed to the admission booth. Hermione went up to the booth and said, "Fourteen adults and nine children."

The lady working's eyes widened in shock of so many people in one group. "Well a group of over twenty is 120 dollars. It's a discount for large groups such as this."

"Okay, thank you." Hermione said counting and handing 120 dollars to the lady.

"Have everyone step up and I'll give them each a stamp on their hand."

"Okay."

One by one the kids and parents stepped up and received a stamp on their hand. Then the kids ran into the park and stopped to stare at all the people and rides around them with shock evident on their faces. The parents stood in front of them to address them and tell them the rules.

"We are all going to stay together in groups of four or five. Two or three adults with two or three of you. Now split into four groups of two or three."

Marie stood next to Ashley and Shara. James stood next to Hayden. Jen stood next to Katie. Finally Jon stood next to Devlin.

Harry, Ron, Ginny, and Hermione took Marie, Ashley, and Shara to the Ferris wheel and other gentle rides. Remus, Shaina, and Angelina took James and Hayden to the arcade. Jen, Katie, Bill, Fleur, and Fred went to the water rides. Lastly Jon, Devlin, Alicia, George, Rachel, and Draco went to the roller coasters.

The groups each spent the rest of the day visiting and going on every ride in the park and playing every game in the arcade. By the end of the day the kids were all sad to go and the adults just wanted to get home and rest. It had been a very long day.

* * *

A woman sat at a desk in a dimly lit room staring a scroll trying to figure out what it meant. All that was written on it was what her father had figured out before he died. 


	2. Memories

1. Memories 

She looked down at the paper that she had been staring at for the past four hours.

Anuht Dujnjk Sikngk Hiwkd Kdilem Kdiel Hidden in the Trayjing Crevasse Jdien Gikels Hjielmd Jgilmd Kkeol Luiend _Lies knowledge of a Dark Power_ Kiesk Kiehd Juwhsn Loiwnd Lielhtd Reskile To find this information you must Iejkie Gdiale Uhwdke Snieesa Djiels Eidme Learn of an ancient incantation 

**Eidme Kdsoe Cehi Fiels Gtohe Tehk Gikels**

**Cnuie Niwlkd Gniemw Sdjiel Iwmnel**

**Djiwln Akeil Nielw Wniewl Jdiek**

**Sjein Wopen Fowlews Widnes Eksi**

**Disd Iejkie Eidme Wildn Widkns**

The first four lines had been figured out by Voldemort, but he was unable to finish what he started as his downfall came soon after he started. No matter how hard she tried she just couldn't figure it out. She doesn't even get how her father had figured out that much. A cold eerie voice sounded about the chamber where she sat.

"Don't think too hard. It will come to you when you least expect it. It took me two weeks to figure out that much. I don't know how, nor do I understand how, but I just know that that's what they mean. I would be doing something and it would just dawn on me."

"It's just so frustrating. It looks like a bunch of gibberish."

"I know it's frustrating but it is exceedingly important that you finish what I started if you want the power to rule and take out those who defy you in the future."

"I know."

"Now clear your head of all thoughts and wait. At least the first line will come to you if not more. In my experience you can do that about once or twice a week and get something, but anymore and nothing will come to you. It is a part of the magic of the scroll."

"Okay."

She concentrated on clearing her mind of all thoughts. She had done occlumency before so she knew what she was doing and could do it with ease.

It came to her.

"I know the next line!" She exclaimed as she ran over to the scroll and wrote down the next line. "It's the incantation alone can bring you the knowledge." She looked down at the paper at what had been figured out so far.

_Hidden in the Trayjing Crevasse_

_Lies knowledge of Dark Power_

_To find this information you must_

_Learn of an ancient incantation_

The incantation alone can bring you the knowledge 

"All it tells you so far is that to get the knowledge of the dark power in the Trayjing Crevasse you have to learn an ancient incantation."

"Exactly, once you finish translating the rest of the message it should tell you were to get the incantation and how to get it." The cold voice surrounding the room said. "It won't be for another couple of weeks that you finish it so until then goodbye." The voice left the room with yet another unsettling silence that seemed to echo off the chamber walls making it colder in the already frigid room.

"Marie! James! It's time to go to Diagon Alley to get your Hogwarts school supplies!" Harry called up to his kids.

"Coming!" They both answered as they ran down the stairs only to trip on their feet and tumble down the stairs together and hit the bottom with a loud 'thud'.

"Ouch." They both said rubbing their bottoms. Harry and Ginny came running into the living room to see what the noise was. When Ginny saw her son and daughter sprawled out on the floor by the end of the stairs rubbing their bottoms she ran over to them.

"Merlin are you two okay?" She asked them and they nodded affirmatively. "What did you do this time?"

"We tripped running down the stairs." James answered in a hurried whisper.

"Well thank Merlin you two are okay. You could have both received some serious injuries from such a fall."

"Sorry Mum. We won't do it again." Marie said apologetically.

"You'd better not. If I find you two trying to run down the stairs again you won't be riding your brooms until school."

"Okay Mum." They answered in unison.

"Good, now get yourselves cleaned up. We're supposed to meet the others in Flourish and Blotts in twenty minutes."

"Okay." They got up and walked into the kitchen to eat breakfast careful not to trip again.

"Ginny dear, you are going to take the twin nightmares to Flourish and Blotts to meet Hermione, Ashley, Rachel, and Jen. I'm going to take Sarah out to meet Ron, Jon, Fred, Helen, and Devlin at Florean Fortescue's for some ice cream. Okay?"

"Yep." She leaned up and gave Harry a quick peck on the lips before leaving to attend to Marie and James.

Harry went upstairs to their youngest daughter's room to wake the sleeping nine-year-old. When he reached her door he knocked lightly.

"Sarah? Time to get up sweetie. We're going to go get some ice cream with Ron, Fred, Jon, Helen, and Devlin."

Harry listened intently with his ear up against the door and he heard a soft groan from the other side signaling that Sarah had awoken.

"I'll meet you downstairs in ten minutes sweetie." He turned and left to go back down the stairs. Once in the living room he looked around at all the photographs around the room and stopped on one from his fifth year. He, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Sirius, Remus, Fred, George, Mr. And Mrs. Weasley, Bill, Charlie, Hagrid, McGonagall, Moody, Tonks, and Dumbledore stood in the living room of number five Grimmauld Place. It was the last picture taken before that night so many years ago in the Department of Mysteries. He could feel his eyes start to burn as the memories of that night washed over him and seeing his godfather fall back behind the veil.

He had finally come to accept that it wasn't his fault that Sirius died that night, but that it was Voldemort's evil diabolical scheme that led them all there that awful night. The veil's mystery was finally known three years after the downfall of Voldemort. It was an archway between life and death. Those who came to be in there were stuck for eternity until someone finds a way to get them out. The voices that could be heard are those close to the entranceway trying to find an escape. Harry hoped that one day soon there would be an unspeakable who could figure out it's mystery fully and find the way out.

So far all that has been found out was that there was another archway somewhere in the world that is the exit, but no one has yet to find this archway and activate it so that those lost could once again be found.

Harry pushed the memories to the back of his head as he willed the tears to leave his eyes. He turned to see Ginny standing beside him looking at the photograph that he had been looking at moments ago with a look of sadness on her face.

"They'll find a way to get them out of there soon. Sirius will be back with us." Ginny assured Harry as though reading his mind. She turned to another picture to try to get his mind off of Sirius. Shaina, Massie, and Remus standing in the Great Hall. Everyone was staring at the three. To say the least it was an odd scene.

Harry turned to see the picture Ginny was looking at and was instantly pulled in to a new memory.

Flashback

Everyone sat in the Great Hall for lunch all engrossed in conversations with their friends. Harry had decided to go back to school for his seventh year, as that is what Dumbledore, and for that matter Sirius, would have wanted. He sat at the Gryffindor table with Ron, Hermione, and Ginny in a comfortable silence as they were all hungry and wanted nothing more than to just eat.

The doors to the Great Hall suddenly opened to reveal two very beautiful adults that appeared to be in their mid thirties. One of them had straight brown hair with chocolate brown eyes to match. The other had wavy blonde hair with the two front pieces dyed blue to match her sparkling blue eyes. There faces both revealed the same emotion…nervousness.

At the sight of them Remus' mouth hung open to match the shock that covered his face. He hadn't seen them since just before Lily and James died. Harry saw the look on Remus' face and knew that they knew each other at one point or another. He just knew that this would be one reunion that would spark an old relationship.

The two girls timidly approached the staff table, smiled at McGonagall, and made their way to Remus.

"Hi Remus." The brown haired girl said.

"Hello Shaina…Massie." He replied without emotion. You could tell that something had happened and it needed to be talked about, but not there as all eyes were on them and the deafening silence would make a whisper seem like a yell.

"We need to talk about…well you know." Shaina whispered to Remus.

"We're really sorry about it. Truly we are." Massie said.

"Lets move to somewhere we can't be overheard." Remus suggested.

"Okay."

They left the Great Hall together.

End of flashback

That was the first time Harry had ever seen Massie or Shaina. He never found out what they needed to talk about, but he didn't really care. He was just glad that Remus had found somebody and still had friends left from when he was in school.

Harry was pulled out of thought by the sound of Sarah coming down the stairs. "Ready dad?"

"Yes, but we don't have to leave for another ten minutes so why don't you go have something to eat quickly."

"Okay." The young red-haired girl said. She went into the kitchen to eat a quick breakfast and Harry followed.

The whole family was in the living room ten minutes later standing in front of the fireplace. Harry had a small pot of floo powder in his hand.

"Ginny you go first so that when the others come you'll be there with them."

"Okay." Ginny took a small handful of powder, threw it into the fire, stepped in, and said, "Diagon Alley!"

Marie went after Ginny, then James, then Sarah, and finally Harry took up the rear.

Ginny, Marie, and James headed off to Flourish and Blotts while Harry and Sarah went to Florean Fortescue's.

Ron, Fred, Jon, Helen, and Devlin were already at Florean's waiting for Harry and Sarah to arrive.

"Harry! Sarah! Over here!" Ron called from one of the tables outside waving them over. Harry and Sarah quickly made their way to them.

"Hey Helen, Devlin, Jon! How are you guys?" Sarah greeted her three friends.

"Great! You?" They all replied together.

"Wow! Creepy. I'm wonderful, but I wish I got to go to Hogwarts this year. Instead I have to wait two more years."

"Hey so do I!" Helen said.

"Well Dev and I only have to wait one more year before we can go." Jon stated.

"Well that's because you two are stupid and urgh." Sarah said lamely.

"So Fred business still doing well?" Harry asked.

"It's still good as ever!" Fred answered excitedly. "George and I are busy inventing a new joke. They're called Pebble Rockets. They look like ordinary small pebbles, you know the size of those you can find at the bottom of a lake. Anyway when you throw them at someone or something it sticks to them with a permanent sticking charm. And when the person goes to get it off it sticks to their hand like gum that won't let go."

"Nice. It's great to see that you two still have a good sense of humor in you thirties."

"Thanks for reminding me. I feel like an old geezer with two kids."

Ron and Harry laughed.

"Well at least you don't have three. Never mind twin terrors that'll probably end up like you and George did."

"Are you saying that's a bad thing?" Fred asked jokingly.

"Nope. Just saying that they're going to be causing a lot of trouble for Remus to deal with while in school. And this year is going to be their first."

"Don't forget that Ashley will probably have a big part in the trouble as well." Ron reminded Harry.

"True."

"Well good luck with that mates." Fred said. "They're gunna be a handful…I know George and I were."

Ginny, Marie, and Harry entered Flourish and Blotts just minutes before Hermione and Ashley arrived.

After buying their need books for their first year at Hogwarts the five of them headed to Madame Malkins to get the kid's school robes. When they entered the shop they saw that there were about three other first years getting robes fitted.

"Ah mum we're gunna be waiting forever," James said to Ginny.

"Well then just walk around and look at dress robes for the Malfoy's annual Christmas dinner and the our New Years Eve party." Ginny replied. Ashley and Marie shrieked with joy and immediately ran off to look at the little misses dress robes. James just stood there with a look of disgust on his face.

"Mum you can't be serious."

"I sure am, but rest assured once these kids are done getting fitted you will be first, okay?"

"Fine, but I'm still not looking for dress robes. I think I'll go talk to some of the other kids."

"That's a great idea. You can make new friends before you even get to school."

James left to go talk to some of the other kids that were either in line or waiting for their friend to finish getting fitted.

Rachel, Draco, Remus, Shaina, George, Alicia, Bill, and Fleur were in the Lupin's kitchen talking about the upcoming school year while Katie, Hayden, Jen, Kevin, and Shara sat upstairs in Hayden's room.

Katie and Jen were in the corner telling Shara about the boy's in their year at Hogwarts while Kevin and Hayden were busy thinking of pranks for Hayden and his friends to try at school this year, as Kevin wouldn't be going for another two years.

"Well there's this one Ravenclaw boy who's okay looking, but he really needs some help with his sense of humor. He's a bit too serious," Jen said.

"A bit! You've got to be kidding me! Jack is like a stiff. Now his brother's the exact opposite. Benji has a great sense of humor, he's smart, not great looking, but is an awesome friend. He's actually one of our best friends. You'd really like him. He's been in on our most of our pranks on the Slytherins. He's in Gryffindor with us and shares a dorm with Hayden." Katie said. The blonde beauty smiled at the memory of one of the pranks they had pulled last year with Benji.

"Merlin I can't wait until I get to go to Hogwarts! Ugh you guys are so lucky to already be old enough." Shara said gushingly. She looked like her dad with the Malfoy baby bottle blonde hair, but had her mother's hazel's eyes.

"Only one more year." Her sister Jen said. Jen looked like her mother with wavy brown hair and hazel eyes. "Then you'll get to help us with the pranks and get to explore the castle."

"Are you girls done with your…girl talk?" Kevin asked coming over to the girls. He had brown hair just like his mother Alicia and brown eyes.

"Sure. What did you guys have in mind to do today?" Jen asked the two boys.

"I say we prank the parents. I mean they can take a joke…right?" Hayden, a sandy haired brown-eyed boy suggested.

"Sounds good to me. What do you have in mind?" Shara replied.

"Cortez! Who else do we have?" A strong and powerful woman's voice called to the black haired Spaniard.

"We have got the York's, Warden's, Gadral's, and Neveu's." The man replied as he bowed to his Mistress.

"Good. Keep up the good work and find more supporters. I want a report back in five days, same time, same place." The tall black haired woman answered.

The parents at the Lupin household sat around the kitchen table discussing their work when an explosion sounded from the living room. They all rushed in to see what all the ruckus was about, but the second they stepped foot into the room they regretted it.

Jen, Hayden, Katie, Kevin, and Shara stood in the middle of the living room with an ink-pellet in one hand and a bag in the other, which the parents assumed had more ink-pellets.

The kids whipped the pellets at the parents as they entered the room, then reached into their bags and grabbed more to throw. The parents turned to run, but as they did the kids chased after them.

All the adults ran to Remus and Shaina's room heading for the walk-in closet. Once in the closet they closed the door as the kid's waited patiently for them to come out.

Little did the kids know that Remus and Shaina kept their own large supply of ink-pellets for when the kids decide to prank them and now was their chance to use them. Remus handed each parent a bag of ink-pellets and then led the way out of the closet with an ink-pellet ready in hand.

The kids saw the door open and threw some more pellets but quickly realized that the parents had their own supply. They turned and ran out of the room laughing and screaming as the parents chased them around the house throwing ink-pellets at them every chance they got while the kids threw them aimlessly behind their backs trying to escape.

An hour later the whole group was scattered throughout the kitchen out of breath and covered in ink. The whole house was a disaster, but would be easily cleaned up with a flick of a wand.

They all had a great time laughing and screaming as the ink-pellets flew throughout the house. It was a memory that would be with them forever and when thought of would bring a smile to their faces.


	3. Where You Belong

The Potter house was bustling with activity, as James and Marie were finishing up their last minute packing. The train was leaving at 11:00 am as always. It was now 10:30. Harry and Ginny were waiting for them at the door with Sarah.

Five minutes later they came down the stairs with their trunks in one hand and their owls in their other.

"Hurry up dears we're going to be late." Ginny said to them as they reached the bottom of the stairs.

"Sorry Mum. You know us…doing everything at the last minute. Packing is no exception." James replied.

The family arrived at Platform 9 and ¾ five minutes before it was to leave. Ginny had tears in her eyes as she said good-bye to her first daughter and son and gave them each a hug. Harry just gave them a hug and said behave as he winked at them.

"Lets get a move on Jen!" Rachel called to her daughter from downstairs.

Jen came down the stairs two at a time with her trunk and cat in her hands. "Sorry Mum, last minute packing…you know."

"Whatever, but if you don't hurry we're gunna miss the train."

Rachel, Draco, Jen, and Shara left the house and headed to platform 9 and ¾. Once there Jen said her quick good-byes and headed to the train to find her friends.

Remus, Shaina, and Hayden arrived on platform 9 and ¾ with ten minutes to spare. Shaina said good-bye to her husband and son and headed to the ministry. Remus gave his son one last hug and said 'See you at Hogwarts', then left. Hayden then left to find his friends and eventually found Jen and Katie.

"Bye Mum, Dad. See you at the holidays." Katie said to her parents hugging them. Bill and Fleur said by to their only daughter and let her run off to find her friends.

She sat in a dark room starting to get flustered. She hadn't been able to figure out any more of the lines of the scroll. She had the first six, but hadn't had any luck since.

She got up and started pacing the room, clearing her mind concentrating hard on the scroll. Then it came to her, the seventh line of the scroll.

_A seer who knows all._

She quickly wrote down the line before she forgot it, and then looked at what she had.

Hidden in the Trayjing Crevasse 

_Lies knowledge of dark power_

_To find this information you must_

_Learn of an ancient incantation_

_The incantation alone can bring you the knowledge_

_Deep within the Amazon is_

A seer who knows all 

She thought about what she had just learned. She had to find the seer who lives within the Amazon. Well that seems easy enough she thought. But then what could the other two lines say? I'll have to wait for them to know what to except I guess.

She looked at the clock on the wall and saw that it was eleven in the morning. She hadn't slept in over 36 hours. She decided that she would sleep then try to figure out the rest when she woke up.

Hayden, Jen, Katie, and Benji sat in their compartment discussing the upcoming year.

"Well since now we're going to be second years we won't have to ride up to the castle in those stupid boats. Thank God!" Hayden said.

"The only reason you didn't like riding in the boats was because you and Benji were fooling around and you happen to fall out and into the lake." Jen said smiling at the memory.

"I thought it was funny personally." Katie said chuckling a bit.

"Well you would." Hayden playfully glared at Katie as she feigned being hurt by his words.

"You two are so…you know there's nothing to describe them really." Benji said to Jen.

"I know what you mean. I had to spend most of the summer with them and their…weirdness. They're like five-year-olds trapped in a twelve-year-olds body." Jen replied and her and Benji laughed.

"Just because we have a sense of humor doesn't mean that you need to put us down." Katie said and it was she and Hayden's turn to laugh.

"We do to have a sense of humor. Don't forget who came up with that prank last year. You know the one that had the Slytherins walking around with warts all over them for a week." Jen reminded Katie and Hayden.

"Oh big deal. One good prank and now you're the king and queen of pranks. You wish." Hayden said.

"Hey, lets just settle this and say that we're all the kings and queens of pranks since the infamous marauders…and Fred and George of course." Benji said and the rest reluctantly nodded their heads in agreement.

"And this year we'll have James, Marie, and Ashley to join us." Katie said.

"Yeah, but I think that we should put them through an…initiation type thing. You know have them prove to us that they can match up to us and be allowed to join the Marauders Next Generation." Hayden said and they all quickly agreed.

"So, what do you guys have in mind for the initiation?" Benji asked and mischievous grins appeared on all of their face.

The train pulled to a stop and Marie, James, Ashley, and their new friend Cody jumped of the train.

Cody had dirty blonde hair and light brown eyes. He was a muggleborn first year.

Together the four of them made their way to the boats that would bring them up to the castle. They all boarded the same boat and started talking animatedly about the upcoming year.

Once inside the castle they all waited, some nervous, some excited, and some calm, for the sorting to start.

Professor Sprout entered the hallway to usher the students in.

The doors to the Great Hall sprung open and some of the student's jaws visibly dropped at the sight of floating candles and the night sky as the ceiling. All the attention in the hall turned towards the first years now making their way to the front of the Great Hall.

Professor Sprout put an old battered hat on a stool in front of the group of first years and in view to the rest of the students.

All of a sudden a slit appeared in the hat and it burst out into song. It sang about how Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, Gryffindor, and Slytherin founded the school and how Slytherin took the sly, cunning purebloods, how Gryffindor took the brave and good-hearted, how Ravenclaw took the intelligent, and how Hufflepuff took the loyal.

Once the sorting hat was done with it's song Professor Sprout addressed the first years. "When I call your name, come up, put the sorting hat on your head, and you will be sorted."

"Abeit, Cody."

Cody, the new friend of Marie, James, and Ashley, slowly made his was up to the stool and put the hat on his head. Instantly he heard a voice in his head. _Hmm…smart I see, but brave…very brave. Well that leaves only one place to put you. Better be…_"GRYFFINDOR!" the hat yelled out at the end and Cody made his way to the loudest cheering table.

The list when on from Agra to Pitark, when finally…"Potter, James."

James made his way to the stool with a grin on his face. He knew without a doubt that he would be in Gryffindor. He put the sorting hat on his head and the voice once again started. _Ah, son of the great Harry Potter and the brilliant Ginny Weasley. Definitely their son, smart, brave, kind. Only one right place to put you…_"GRYFFINDOR!"

James walked his way over to the table with an air of confidence and the huge grin still on his face as his sat down between Hayden and Cody. Hayden, Katie, Jen, Benji, and Cody congratulated him, and then quickly turned their attention back to the sorting for Marie's turn.

"Potter, Marie."

Marie walked up to the stool and put the hat on her head. _Ah, so there are two of you. You and your brother. Well lets see…hmmm brave definitely, but also very intelligent. Where to put you, where to put you? You would do very well in Ravenclaw, but then again you would also do well in Gryffindor._ After what seemed like an eternity the sorting hat finally yelled out, "GRYFFINDOR!"

Marie stood up and lightly skipped her way over to Gryffindor and sat down across from her brother and next to Katie. Once again they all congratulated her and turned their attention back to the sorting.

The sorting went on until it was reaching towards the bottom of the list.

"Weasley, Ashley."

Ashley smiled as she made her way to the stool and put the sorting hat on her head. _Hmm. There is definitely only one place to put you…_"GRYFFINDOR!"

Ashley hopped to the table and took a seat next to Marie. She was congratulated quickly then everyone's attention once again went back to the sorting as the last kid, Hilary Zulaty, was sorted.

Remus Lupin stood up and addressed the hall. "In the words of a best friend of mine…no better time to eat than the present. Enjoy."

Food appeared on the table and small, but audible gasps came from a few first years at each table. Everyone immediately grabbed as much food as could fit on their plates and began eating.

"So Marie what took the sorting hat so long to place you?" James asked his twin sister.

"Oh, well it considered putting me in Ravenclaw and I think that if I didn't ask it to put me in Gryffindor it probably would have."

Hayden, Katie, Jen, Ashley, and James' jaws dropped at the statement. None of them could imagine not having Marie around to be apart of the Marauders Next Generation. She always came up with great pranks.

"It's not a big deal guys. I was put in Gryffindor in the end, so what does it matter?"

"You're right, but I think I would have died if you weren't. You always have great pranks." Jen said over exaggerating a little.

"Thanks." Marie replied blushing slightly.

The rest of dinner was spent talking about pranks, quidditch, and Hayden filled the young ones in on their initiation.

Hundreds of miles away in a dark room with a fire as the only source of lighting, a middle-aged woman was relaxing her mind trying to get the next line of the scroll. She'd been clearing her mind for a while now and was starting to get frustrated when she thought of it.

_Bring her what she wants._

She had all, but the last line. She thought that the last line might be something that restated something of before in different words as the information she has tells her pretty much everything, but she would have to wait for the last line as she wanted to be safe…just in case.


	4. The First Meeting

**4. The First Meeting**

Hayden, James, Jen, Katie, Ashley, and Marie sat at the Gryffindor table Monday morning. Professor Lipton, the Gryffindor Head of House, handed each of them a copy of their schedules. Professor Lipton wasn't like Professor McGonagall used to be at all. He was more laid back and less strict, but like McGonagall he didn't have favorites, give special treatment to Gryffindors, and absolutely loved the quidditch games. He is also the Defense Against the Dart Arts teacher, the first one to last more than a year since Quirrell.

"What's your guys' first class?" Hayden asked the younger students.

"Um…" Marie looked down at her schedule. "Transfiguration. What about your guys'?"

"Defense," Katie replied.

"Only the best class ever!" Jen said excitedly.

"Is the Transfiguration teacher…Professor Treidson nice?" Ashley asked.

"He's a bit hard to understand as he's from Germany and has a heavy accent…but he's a pretty decent teacher," Katie answered.

"It's a pretty fun class if you ask me," Hayden said.

"You only like it that much because that's your best subject," Jen said.

"So."

"Well I personally can't wait to go to Defense. That's the one subject that interests me," James said.

"My personal favorite right now is…I don't know. But I can guarantee you that next year it will be either Astronomy or Divination," Jen exclaimed.

"Why Divination!" Hayden asked disgustedly.

"I don't know. I just find the future itself fascinating, so being able to predict the future would just be…amazing. As for Astronomy, I just love the stars and constellations and all that stuff."

"O-kay."

"Oh shut up, Hayden!"

"No…what kind of person like Divination or even finds it interesting?"

"Me…now shut your trap before I shut it for you," Jen replied heatedly. Hayden decided not to test Jen. He knew how hot-headed she could get.

The kids spent the rest of breakfast discussing school and what subjects they think would be or are the best. Then after breakfast they went off to their classes.

Forty or so people gathered in front of an intimidating woman with black hair and almost black eyes.

"Welcome to the first death eaters meeting since the downfall of my father," the woman said. "You all have been recruited to be apart of the next rebellion. This time we will be more powerful than ever as long as we accomplish one task before allowing ourselves to be known. You will call me your Mistress and only that."

She paused and looked around at the group of people before her. There were some familiar faces from the original death eaters such as the Lestrange's and the Nott's. But there were some who weren't familiar to her, but Cortez had introduced her to such as the Faison brothers and their wives, and the Davies (whom she knew the husband, Roger, went to school at around the same time as Potter). It wasn't a great turnout, but it was satisfying enough for now.

"Now, there is but one task other than the one at hand to help us to come to power, and that is to recruit others. In order to do this you must not let what you're doing be known to one's not on our side. Only recruit those who you know would be willing to join, which means keep the Malfoy's out of this…at least Draco and his wife. They mustn't know…as for the other task, that is up to me and a select few to do. I will let those who will be a part of it know when I decide when we shall do it. Until then, you are all dismissed."

Hayden, James, Marie, Katie, Jen, and Ashley sat down at lunch after a morning of classes.

"So how was your first morning of classes?" Jen asked as they all started to pile food onto their plates.

"It was okay. I mean the first day of classes is bound to be boring, but these two Slytherins, Hera Cortez and Mike Faison, were just fowl," Ashley answered.

"Oh yeah, we have Hera's brother, Dan, and one of the Lestrange's kids, Danielle. Her brother is the year above us along with Owen Nott. They all come from dark wizards," Hayden said.

"Well, duh, they're Slytherins…they've got to be bad. So, when is the first prank to be held?" James said.

"Hey, that's up to you guys. Remember your initiation? You three have to come up with a prank and successfully pull it off before you can 'officially' become one of the Marauders Next Generation or MNG."

"Oh yeah."

"Anyway, back to the original topic. How did your classes go? You know did you meet anyone knew?" Jen asked again.

"Well we met some Ravenclaws, Janie Kerie, Andrew Sidley, and Gerald Johnson. They were in our Transfiguration class," Marie said.

"Yeah, we met the stupid Slytherins in Herbology," James said.

"That's cool. Did you all have fun in your lessons besides the whole speeches in the beginning?" Katie asked.

"Eh…well all we really did besides that was go over the first chapters of our books," Ashley said.

"Hey, at least you didn't get homework yet. First years don't get homework on the first day, but everyone else does," Hayden complained.

"Oh you're such a drama queen," Jen said. "It's not that much. Just review the defense spells from last year in chapter one of our defense book and we didn't even get anything in Charms."

"Well I, unlike you, have a life that doesn't involve even the littlest bit of homework."

"Well we're only going to be getting a lot more as the year continues. So if I were you, I would get used to it."

Just then the Great Hall filled with owls carrying letters from home and copies of the Daily Prophet and other magazine orders. A tawny owl landed in front of Hayden and dropped a copy of the Daily Prophet in front of him. He scanned the first page and showed the others a small article about the death of Ludo Bagman. It read:

**Ludo Bagman…dead?**

Article by: Harrison Trald

When Ludo Bagman did not show up to work the other day, a co-worker decided that something was wrong as he seemed fine the other day.

"_After work I decided to go over to his house to see if he was all right," the co-worker, Jason Nicht, age 35, told me yesterday. "When I arrived at his house I knocked several times, but no one answered. It was peculiar, because he always answered the door when I visited (he was a good friend of Bagman's). I decided then that I would go in and wait until he got home, but when I opened the door I found him lying on the ground in his living room. I went over to check his pulse, but there was none. I brought him to St. Mungo's and they pronounced him dead of a stroke."_

_It is not very common for a magical person to die of a stroke, heart attack, or any other one of those types of muggle attacks. But when it does occur not many are found in time to be saved. Ludo Bagman…_

They all stopped reading the article not really interested in any other part of the article.

"Interesting…" Katie said.

"Whatever. I heard from Uncle Fred and Uncle George that he wasn't a very good man. They said that once he cheated them out of their money that they bet on a Quidditch World Cup game when they were in like their sixth year here and ended up winning a lot of money. He tried to pay them back in leprechaun gold, so it disappeared after a few hours. Then when they tried to get their money that they won he avoided them at all costs and never ended up giving it to them," Ashley explained.

"Wow. I would have been mad," Hayden said.

"Yeah, well they ended up receiving my dad's winnings from the Tri-Wizard tournament," James said.

They spent the rest of lunch just discussing other things that were in the Daily Prophet such as an Ogre sighting in London. After lunch they left for their evening classes.

Harry, Ron, and Draco crept down the dimly lit dungeon-like hallway with their wands at the ready. Harry was in front followed closely by Ron and Draco. At the end of the hall was a door with light seeping through underneath the door.

When they reached the end of the hallway and were outside the door Harry signaled that he would kick in the door and go in first with Ron and Draco as back-ups.

Harry stepped out from the side of the wall where he was standing and stood in front of the door. He kicked it open and ran inside followed closely by Draco. Inside the room were at least ten death eaters all huddled in the center and now facing Harry, Ron, and Draco with a surprised look on each face. It only took them a millisecond to realize they were there before whipping out there wands. A battle soon broke out.

Harry, Ron, and Draco took out three of them instantly during the millisecond they took to comprehend what was happening and were now each in a duel with two or three others.

Spells were flying everywhere. There were cuts and bruises on the bodies of not only the death eaters but also Harry, Ron, and Draco. Each of them were now only battling one death eater as they took out one or two of the others.

The battling went on a little longer before Ron was stunned and Harry and Draco were dueling three. They took out one and it was once again one on one. Some previously stunned death eaters were starting to stir so Harry quickly bound them with rope and resumed with the battle.

All of a sudden the death eaters all disappeared and the room changed into an empty tan colored room. All three men were standing in the middle of it as a fourth man, Remus, entered. "Great Job you guys. You all did excellent."

"Don't we always," Harry said jokingly. They were in their auror training. After Voldemort was destroyed the auror department decided to have a virtual training room where teams will go up against virtual death eaters. The whole thing looks, feels, and seems like its real, but the only thing is if you get hurt in the training you don't get hurt in real life. All of the auror's liked the set up and enjoyed training like it was real…being put in dangerous situations that could happen in the future and have happened in the past.

"Ha, ha, very funny Harry. Anyway I stopped your training because it's time for lunch and I left school for a bit so I could eat lunch with everyone. Do you guys want to eat with Shaina, Massie, and me?"

"Sure," Ron answered.

"Oh and how is Massie doing with the veil?" Draco asked.

"Why don't you ask her yourself at lunch?"

"Because every time it's brought up she goes into foul mood mode," Ron answered.

"Well I think that it's going pretty well right now, so I don't that it will put her in a foul mood today."


	5. Flashbacks

**5. Flashbacks**

Remus, Harry, Draco, Ron, Shaina, and Massie sat at a table outside Gerald's Italian Food Parlor in Diagon Alley. They were talking about the new quidditch season when Harry brought up a new topic.

"Do guys remember in my seventh year when you two first appeared," Harry gestured to Massie and Shaina. "I've always wondered what it was that you two brought Remus in the hall to talk about."

"Oh…that," Shaina said.

"Well you see…"

Flashback… 

Remus followed Shaina and Massie into the Entrance Hall though rather reluctantly at first. When they closed the doors Remus turned to them, anger evident on his pale face.

"Why are you guys back here?"

"Well…we…we didn't want to leave Remus," Shaina said.

"Our best friend just died," Massie said before Remus could answer. "Then my fiancé was put into Azkaban for it. I knew he didn't do it…he would never have, but there wasn't anything I could do about it."

"You could have stayed. You could have helped try to at least get him a trial!"

"Remus, believe me, we wanted to. But we just…couldn't," Shaina tried to explain, tears blurring her vision.

"Ha," Remus laughed bitterly. "No you didn't! You just wanted to get away! You couldn't handle it, so both of you ran! You ran away from me, Shai!"

"No! Remus I didn't. I was scared. I didn't know what to do!" Tears were now streaming down Shai's face and even some were in Massie's. "I was a coward, you right. I couldn't handle it."

"Neither of us could," Massie almost whispered tears leaking from her face as she faced the truth. "It's the truth. We didn't even stay with each other. We lost touch."

"What happened just tore us apart, inside and out. I quit my job and moved to America," Shaina said trying to calm herself down and stop the tears.

"You hurt me Shai, you never even said good-bye."

"Don't you get it Remus? That would have made it harder!"

"Then why did you do it? I don't get it! I can get why Mass left, but not you."

"I don't know Remus…I really don't know," Shaina whispered more tears falling down her already tear streaked face. She crumpled up into a ball on the floor and cried into her hands. Remus' face softened and sat down next to her. He wrapped his arms around her as Massie sat on the floor on the other side of Shaina, tears of her own silently falling down her face as she watched two of her best friends repair their lost love.

End of flashback… 

Remus finished telling the story. Harry, Ron, and Draco had no idea what to say. After a few moments Ron broke the silence.

"If you two split away from each other too, then how come you both came together?"

"Well…I moved to America and Massie moved to Australia. About two months before we came back, she was on a business trip to Boston, Mass. Which so happened to be where I was living at the time. We saw each other in the wizarding part of Boston and just stared at each other for a while…"

Flashback… 

Shaina just walked out of Sandy's Styling Salon in the wizarding part of Boston when she saw something or rather someone that couldn't possibly be who she thought it was. But when the person turned around Shaina saw that it was indeed who she believed it to be. Massie Calyn, her best friend throughout her time schooling, was standing not a few meters away from her.

Massie stared right back at Shaina thinking the same thing that Shaina thought. It couldn't be Shaina Ryans, the Shaina Ryans that she grew up with. They both just stared at each other for what seemed like hours, but was really only a few minutes.

"Ma-Massie?" Shaina stuttered in disbelief.

"Shaina?"

"Oh-Merlin," Shaina said. She could feel tears stinging her eyes. "It's been, like, sixteen years."

"Oh Shai!" Massie ran up to Shaina and gave her the biggest hug she could muster without squeezing her to death. Both girls let silent tears fall from their eyes.

End of Flashback… 

"We spent the next two weeks catching up on things we missed," Shaina said.

"During those two months I pestered her to go and see you, Remus. I, like you, didn't understand why she left. She said it was because she was scared. It took me those two months to convince her to go see you, to mend your relationship that was broken those sixteen years before."

Remus knew it was the truth. He'd heard it before, the day after they came back. He knew that they were just saying all this again to clear up any other questions the others might have had.

"Sorry you guys, but I must be getting back to the school. I'll see you all later," Remus said. After they all said their good byes he left. Just a few minutes later they all said good bye to each other and got back to their jobs.

_Dear Mum and Dad,_

_Since James is too lazy to write a letter, this is going to be from both of us. Our first day here was pretty good except that in Herbology there were these two Slytherins, Hera Cortez and Mike Faison, who were pretty rude. James, Ashley, and I are going to take care of it though. We're planning a prank, but it's also a part of our "initiation" to be part of the Marauders The Next Generation. **As if we wouldn't be in it anyway**. **Hayden, Katie, and Jen just feel like fooling around and "seeing" if we can "pull off" a good prank, as if Uncle Remus, Auntie Shai, and Aunt Massie didn't teach us all they knew too.**_

_Anyway the first day of classes was boring, as expected. All they really did was talk to us all about what our first year would be like and stuff like that. I'm sure you already know that as you've already been through all this. Our teachers are pretty nice. Professor's Lipton and Treidson are cool. Professor Lipton is our Head of House, he's really nice. **But he doesn't give Gryffindor's special treatment. **And he shouldn't! Sorry James seems to think that he should. Professor Treidson is from Germany! Isn't that cool? After he was done going over what we were going to do this year he told us about Germany and what it was like there for wizards…I found it all interesting while James just slept. **I did not!** Yes he did. He's a bad seed. I can't believe he's my brother sometimes. **Ah, but she loves me anyway.** You wish! Just kidding, as much as he annoys me sometimes and doesn't pay attention in class**…I do too!** (he lies!) I still love him…somewhere deep, deep down. **Don't pay attention to her, she's delusional. She makes just as much mischief as I do.** Whatever, don't believe him._

_Well Saturday we're going to explore the castle a bit, you know get used to it. Even though we have the Marauder's Map. **Yeah, we're going to find more places, then have Uncle Remus add them to the map for us!** He acts as if the REAL Marauder's didn't get everything the first time. Anyway that's all for now I guess._

_Love you and miss you,_

_Marie** and James**_

Marie read over the letter one more time, shaking her head at the things James wrote, before tying the letter to Grayson, their family owl (Hedwig was too old now). She watched Grayson fly off for a minute before turning and heading down from the Owlry.

On her way back to Gryffindor tower she bumped into two people she rather didn't want to see more than she was forced to…Hera and Mike.

"What's this Hera?"

"Look's like the Potter girl. Where's your brother? Did you two get into a fight?" Hera sneered.

"Ugh, leave me alone and go do whatever it is you Slytherins do," Marie tried to push past them, but they wouldn't get out of her way.

"No, I don't think we will," Mike said indignantly. Marie was instantly reminded off her first encounter with them.

Flashback… 

Marie, James, and Ashley waited outside the greenhouses for their Herbology teacher to come out.

"Mmm, when will this teacher come and let us in?" James groaned.

"Merlin I know. We've been waiting for like ten minutes," Ashley replied.

"Oh you two need to grow up and get some patience."

Just then two Slytherins left their little pack a little way's down the hall and headed towards them.

"Oh look what we have here," the boy who came over hissed.

"If it isn't the stupid Potter children and what, a Weasley kid? God that family has way to many blood traitors in it," the girl beside the boy sneered.

"And just who might you two idiots be?" Ashley asked coldly.

"As if it's any of your business, but I'm Mike Faison and this is Hera Cortez," the boy answered.

"Oh, a girlfriend? Already? Aren't we a bit young?"

"Shut up you!" Hera snapped.

"Well aren't we defensive?" Marie teased. The two Slytherins glared at her. "Now leave us alone and go back to your stupid little posse over there."

"No, I don't think we will," Mike answered coolly. The five of them were saved a confrontation by the teacher coming out of the greenhouse and retrieving her class.

End of Flashback… 

Marie decided it was best to ignore the two Slytherins and just find another way back to the tower, so she turned around and headed the other way. She could hear behind her Mike saying "Oh, look she's giving up" to Hera loudly. Then she heard Hera laugh shrilly, but soon all the sound of them was gone as she turned a corner and kept making her way back to her common room.

A woman sat down in her chair by a fireplace in a dark room with the light of the fire being the only source of light. She looked down at the completed translation of the scroll in front of her.

Hidden in the Trayjing Crevasse 

_Lies knowledge of dark power_

_To find this information you must_

_Learn of an ancient incantation_

_The incantation alone can bring you the knowledge_

_Deep within the Amazon is_

A seer who knows all 

_Bring her what she wants_

And learn of the incantation you will 

She had all the information she needed to begin her quest for the dark power.

"Congratulations," an eerie voice hissed into the darkness. She knew that voice to be the voice of her deceased father. "You have finished the first part of the task."

"What do I do now?"

"Find the seer of course. She lives in the middle of the forest."

"If you knew this then why did you make me spend weeks translating the scroll?"

"Because I'm not aloud to give out certain information until you find out most of it for yourself. I am only aloud to be a messenger of certain information."

"I understand."

"I must go now though. I will not be back until after you find the seer and are back here."

"Okay then, bye father."

"Good-bye my darling Katie."


	6. Exploration

**6. Exploration**

Ashley, Marie, and James crowded under James and Marie's invisibility cloak, Marauder's Map in hand. It was eight o'clock at night and because they were first years they weren't supposed to be out of their common rooms past seven. Even though the headmaster was their uncle they knew that he wouldn't give them special treatment when it came to breaking the rules.

They walked down a corridor on the fourth floor. One their right was a classroom and to the left was a wall. The classroom was the muggle studies classroom. They stopped walking almost tripping over one another. Footsteps were coming down the hallway. The three first years backed up against the wall. Ashley's hand hit a small brick and it slid in like a button. Surprised Ashley let out a small yelp and pulled her hand away quickly. But she it was too late, the wall behind them seemed to dissolve and the three of them fell back through the wall.

They landed with a thud on the other side of the wall. The invisibility cloak was sprawled out underneath them, no longer covering. The marauders map fell out of James' hand and was opened next to the wall of the stone hallway they fell into.

"What the hell just happened?" James asked snapping out of the shock he was in when they fell. He looked around at where they were. They were in a stone hallway with lit torches following down the hallway as far as the eye could see. There were cobwebs in almost all the corners but the rugged stones of the wall were pretty clean cut and not much different from those that made up most of the school.

"I-I think that I did it. I don't really know," Ashley said pushing herself up off the ground and standing up with James and Marie. "When we walked back into the wall my hand hit some stone in the wall and it pushed in. I guess it made it so that people could walk through the wall."

"Why wasn't this on the map?"

"Maybe they never knew about it…I guess you were right James, we did find a new passage of some sort," Marie said still in amazement in what they literally stumbled upon.

"Let's check it out," Ashley suggested excitedly. The other two nodded with smiles on their face.

"Only our first week here and already we get to have an adventure…yes!" James said as the three started down the hallway.

Katie trudged along the muddy ground of the Amazon as she made her way towards the seers home. All around her were hundred foot tall trees. She could see shadows of animals in the canopies.

She kept walking on for an hour, having to stop here and there to rest. In the distance Katie saw a light and knew immediately that it was the seer's home. She could sense the magic coming from the area. She sped up, her legs moving faster and faster. Anticipation ran through her body. She wanted the dark magic…she needed it.

The next step she took she instantly regretted. Her foot sunk into the ground half a foot with her other foot following right behind her. The ground was had taken hold of half her body before she could even think. It was moving quickly…too quickly for it to be normal quicksand. The seer had set it up no doubt. With her wand in her back pocket that was already taken by the sand she didn't know what to do. She shoved her hand into the sand and began to search for her wand. It fell out of her pocket. It was hard to move her hand around in the quicksand.

She was now up to almost her shoulders in the quicksand and still hadn't found her wand. She stretched her fingers out as quickly as the sand would allow and she felt something touch her fingertip. She moved her hand to grasp whatever it was and she knew right away that it was what she was looking for. She had found her wand. The quicksand had now taken everything below her shoulders. She tried to say a spell, but she couldn't move her wand efficiently enough for the spell to work She slowly began to lift her arm as best she could out of the quicksand. By the time she got as much as she could out the quicksand was up to her chin. She quickly said a spell and was thrown out of the pit and onto solid ground.

She panted heavily and covered from neck to toe in mud. After about a minute of catching her breath she stood up, and cleaned herself and her wand off with a simple spell. She turned to face the pit that had almost taken her minutes ago and stood there looking at it for a few minutes before deciding what to do with it.

"Tierra sólida," she said with her wand pointed at the quicksand. The pit turned to solid ground before her eyes. She smiled to herself, proud of herself for her quick thinking. She continued on slowly and cautiously. She wasn't going to fall into another trap.

Shaina sat at the Mistress' desk. She looked at the pile of work before her and frowned. She'd been having a busy day. It seemed that everything wanted to happen in one day. There were trolls that wandered out of their safe area and into London. Thousands of muggles had seen or been hurt by one of the trolls. They made it through half of London before the Ministry was finally able to stop them and direct them back to their land. After finally getting all the trolls back the Ministry had to do damage control. They had wiped thousands of memories from the incident and healed a hundred or so of the muggles who had gotten in the trolls' path.

There were a couple of young adults, maybe twenty years of age if even, that decided to have a little fun playing tricks on a few muggles. They thought it would be funny to turn a few trees in a park in Surrey alive. The trees had chased five muggle kids around the park. Again the Ministry had to sort it out, modifying the children's memories, and making sure the trees were put back in their rightful places and not moving.

Finally there was a chemical spill in the potions making lab. It caused the whole level to fill with smoke. The chemical just happened to be magic resistant, so the whole floor had to evacuate and wait four hours for the smoke to disappear and for the chemical to calm. It then had to be cleaned up and the floor secured to make sure that it was safe for everyone to return to work. So that whole floor was put back five hours in total.

Shaina was worn out. She needed a break, so she wrote a note that would inform anyone who came to see her that she would be out. She hung the note on her door before closing it and leaving through the fireplace.

They've been walking down the stone hallway for five minutes now and they haven't found anything but cobwebs and torches. They turned another corner and were greeted by a beautiful sight. They stepped into an extravagant room. There was a fireplace with an everlasting fire that is charmed so that it can't set the castle on fire. There were four armchairs, one blue, one red, one green, and one yellow. The four house colors. In the middle of the chairs was a large coffee table. On the walls were four portraits. One portrait had a blue and bronze frame, another had a red and gold one, the third had green and silver, and the last had yellow and black. Above the fireplace were pictures of the four people from the portraits in younger years. Some were with all four, others with just two or three of them.

"Merlin! This must be where the four founders used to live!" Marie said excitedly. She walked up to the portrait with the blue and bronze frame and lifted her hand to touch it.

"We were wondering when someone would find this place," the blue and bronze framed portrait said suddenly. Marie jumped back from the portrait quickly, her hand back at her side. The three first year's eyes were wide open in shock. "What? Did you expect the portraits not to be charmed?"

"I…we…uh…" Marie tried to say something but she was still in full shock.

"We, um, well yes," James said.

"Well we are…and in case you didn't know I'm Rowena Ravenclaw," the blue and bronze framed portrait said.

"I'm Helga Hufflepuff," the yellow and black one said.

"I'm Godric Gryffindor," the red and gold framed portrait stated.

"And I'm Salazar Slytherin," the last one said. "What houses or house are you three in?"

"Gryffindor," Ashley replied. "We didn't even know a place like this existed."

"Yes well no one but us four knew about it," Helga said.

"This place is amazing!" Marie stated recovering from her shock.

"Thank you."

"Um…why did you all make such a place?" James asked curiously.

"Well we wanted a place where we could get away from the school, but still actually be there," Gryffindor answered.

"Uh…okay."

"What he means is we wanted a place to just get away from all the hassle that is school. You know with the students running around all the time," Salazar cleared things up.

"Why didn't you just use the headmaster's office?" Marie asked.

"Well first of all when we were running the school there was no headmaster. The idea of a headmaster happened just after we died," Ravenclaw replied.

"Secondly we wanted a place that the students didn't know of so they couldn't bother us," Slytherin finished.

"But what if something happened…like something bad?" Ashley asked.

"We had a parchment that was permanently stuck to the doors of the Great Hall where if we were needed all you had to do was write it down and it would appear on that parchment there," Hufflepuff answered pointing to a parchment above the mantel.

"Then what happened to the parchment? It's not there anymore."

"During the first reign of Voldemort it was destroyed," Gryffindor said.

"Um, guys we need to go," Ashley said pointing towards a clock that read one am.

"Oh…we promise to come back. We can tell you all how things are going at school," Marie said to the portraits. "Bye."

Slowly Katie inched her way closer to the cabin in the forest. She paid close attention to her surroundings being careful not to fall into another trap. She was only a couple of meters away now. She took another step, but was met by an invisible barrier. She put her hands out in front of her to find a place where the barrier broke. She walked along the barrier her hand searching for an open space.

Five minutes of walking had passed by and she still hadn't found an opening. She was starting to get frustrated. She slid her hand another inch along the invisible wall and felt a hole in it. It was a very tiny hole, the size of a pinhole. She was surprised she found it. But now that it had been found she wondered what to do. It sure wasn't big enough for her to even fit her finger through it.

She stood there with her finger on the hole for a good ten minutes thinking of what to do. Then it came to her…an enlargement charm. If she could enlarge the hole big enough she'd be able to squeeze through it. The only problem was she couldn't see the hole as it was invisible so she wouldn't be able to tell when it was big enough. She guessed she'd have to do a trial and error type thing.

Katie pointed her wand at about where the hole was. She didn't know if it was exact or not as she had to lift her finger from the hole to point her wand at it, but she guessed it was pretty close to the hole. She cast an enlargement charm on the hole and reached out her hand to feel how large she had made the hole. It was not the size of her fist. She estimated about five more times with the spell that intense will get it large enough for her to fit through. So she cast the spell five more times the exact same way that she had before and surely enough the hole was now the size of a window. She could definitely fit through it.

She stepped through the hole and was now on the other side of the invisible barrier. Proud of herself she kept on walking towards the small cabin in the middle of the area. She trudged along until she was but five meters away from the cabin. That was when she saw a miraculous sight. Just outside the door was large jaguar with brilliant green eyes that were right on her. It rose to its feet and made it's way towards her. Katie stood tall and confident, but inside her heart was pounding. She didn't know what the wild cat would do to her all she knew was that she wouldn't let it sense fear.

The jaguar circled her slowly as though examining her in some way, shape, or form. Katie's eyes followed the creature watching it's every move while it circled her. Then as if satisfied that she was worthy enough to continue it stopped circling her and made it's way back to the cabin and inside. She let out a breath she didn't know that she was holding and continued walking towards the cabin. As she reached the door it opened just as she lifted her hand to knock.


End file.
